wyrmrestfandomcom-20200216-history
Archive:How to Play Dead
Laurant’s steps through the entrance-way of her home made a click-clack sound of metal hitting stone as she approached the stairway go to up to her room. It had been a long day of training, and she was very tired, wanting nothing more than a bath and her bed. “Good grief Laurant, you smell like a horse. If we must tolerate your whim to join the Blood Knights, and let me mention again how difficult that is going to be on me to try to match you to a suitable male now, could you -please- try not to come home smelling like a stall?” echoed her mother’s shrill voice as she exited one of the sitting rooms off the main hall, followed by her sister Lilithaine, looking quite pleased with herself. It was Lilithaine who had figured out that Laurant had joined the Blood Knights, and it had been one of her more truly one of her more impressive maneuvers to date, at least in the matter of speed in which she ferreted out the information. In less than a day, Lilithaine had squeezed the information out of Matthias, that rotten double crossing weasel, by holding over his head some secret concerning the identity of his latest lover. Circling around Laurant, her mother made a show of dramatically sniffing the air and waving a hand in front of her nose. “Try to remember that how you present yourself reflects upon ourselves, and we would rather not have everyone thinking of a horses ass when they think of the Delorei’s.” Now -that- nearly made Laurant laugh, as ‘horse’s ass’ was an apt term for the lot of them, and she was fairly certain that many people would likely agree. But mentioning that wouldn’t help her get through this most recent lecture how on she had inconvenienced her family any faster. Circling behind Laurant, Lilithaine made her attack from the other side of her little sister, laughing musically. “Mother, you mustn’t upset yourself so. As I told you, the Blood Knights is a good choice for Laurant. We agreed that she is too clumsy, too… well. Her intellect just isn’t what we had hoped it would be, now is it? She would have only embarrassed our family if she had become a mage and shown how inept she is.” Lilithaine paused, placing an immaculately manicured hand on Laurant’s shoulder, giving it a patronizing pat. “Such physical exertion is more suited to one such as herself. And not to mention, in the Blood Knights, we will be at least able to say that we are making the sacrifice of one of our own to the patriotic cause of defending Quel’thalas. After all, it’s only proper that someone from our family eventually be sent to die fighting that mad Lordaeron Prince.” So glad I can serve some purpose in this family, Laurant thought, but once again, kept that thought firmly behind her teeth. Sighing inwardly, Laurant looked around for a potential escape. Lilithaine and her mother really didn’t need her here for this conversation, other than the fact that she supposed it gave them some sort of pleasure watching the effects of their words on herself. She had found long ago, that where her family and their need to systematically humiliate her was concerned, that it was simply best not to take their comments to heart, and above all else, never to react. In short, she just stood there, and played dead - not allowing herself to listen, speak, or feel anything from what they said or did. And as it had proven in the past, after a few more cutting comments about her appearance, her intellect, and her overall lack of any real beneficial value to the family, Lilithaine and her mother moved on to find more interesting prey. Category:Archived Stories